US20030223561A1

US20030223561A1 - Intercom apparatus

Info

Publication number: US20030223561A1
Application number: US10/420,856
Authority: US
Inventors: Kazuya Yoshida; Manabu Yamada; Masaya Mizutani
Original assignee: Aiphone Co Ltd
Current assignee: Aiphone Co Ltd
Priority date: 2002-05-30
Filing date: 2003-04-23
Publication date: 2003-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 2023-04-23
Also published as: BE1015544A5; GB2389270A; FR2840490B1; NO20032322D0; JP2004007061A; NO335012B1; DE10323895A1; JP3881285B2; US7046774B2; NO20032322L; GB2389270B; FR2840490A1; GB0311711D0

Abstract

An intercom apparatus in which a connection of intercom master stations in respective residential rooms is carried out by use of a terminal unit which is separated from the master station and the terminal unit can be removed according to need with keeping the connecting state.

The intercom apparatus has an entrance substation and a plurality of intercom master stations which are disposed in residential rooms and called from the entrance substation through a main line path to intercommunicate with the entrance substation bilaterally, and it has the terminal unit comprising terminals for connecting intercom master stations by a station-to-station spanned wiring to form the main line path and a terminal board in which the terminals are mounted for carrying out an electrical connection of the main line path by the station-to-station spanned wiring, and a mounting bracket by which the terminal unit is detachably mounted is allocated in a space which is formed at backside of the intercom master station and a CRT module.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an intercom apparatus, and relates to an intercom apparatus having a terminal unit which can be separated from an intercom master station.

2. Related Arts

Heretofore, in an intercom apparatus (see, FIG. 1) which has one or a plurality of entrance substations which are disposed at an entrance, and a plurality of intercom master stations which are disposed in residential rooms and called from the entrance substation through a main line path to intercommunicate with the entrance substation bilaterally, a terminal base which is disposed at a backside of the intercom master station and electrically connected to a board in the apparatus is formed integrally with the intercom master station.

An application of the intercom master station in such intercom apparatus in the related art is that a wiring coming from the entrance substation or the residential room is directly connected to the terminal base disposed at the backside of the intercom master station and to the intercom master station in the next residential room, and intercom master stations in respective residential rooms are connected sequentially.

In the intercom master station of the above-described intercom apparatus as the related art, there is a drawback that the application can not be carried out in case that main bodies of the intercom main station are not existed in an installation location. Further, since the main bodies of the intercom master station main are involved in wiring works, it is hard to carry out the wire connection and there is a possibility that the apparatus may be dropped and broken carelessly. Furthermore, in case that the intercom master station is broken or has a defect in operation so that maintenance is needed, the wire connection of the intercom master station has to be removed but by removing one intercom main station from the main line path, there occurs a drawback that entire intercom apparatus is stopped.

Moreover, since during a period from the application until move-in, the main bodies of the intercom master station can not be moved, there is a drawback that they are gotten dirty in the installation location, and there is a possibility that intercom master stations may be stolen in the installation location during a period after the application until the move-in.

The invention is made to solve these drawbacks and aims to provide an intercom apparatus which carries out a connection of intercom master stations in respective residential rooms by use of a terminal unit and in which the terminal unit can be removed according to need without changing a state of a wire connection.

To accomplish this aim, an intercom apparatus of the invention has one or a plurality of entrance substations which are disposed at an entrance and a plurality of intercom master stations which are disposed in residential rooms and called from the entrance substation through a main line path to intercommunicate with the entrance substation bilaterally, wherein the intercom apparatus has a terminal unit which comprises terminals for wiring between the plurality of intercom master stations by a station-to-station spanned wiring to form the main line path and a terminal board for mounting the terminals and carrying out an electrical connection of the main line path by the station-to-station spanned wiring, and the intercom master station has a mounting bracket for detachably mounting the terminal unit.

Further, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, the mounting bracket is disposed at a backside of the intercom master station.

Furthermore, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, the mounting bracket is disposed in a space which is formed at a backside of a CRT module as a monitor which displays a picture taken by a camera of the entrance substation.

Moreover, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, the terminal unit has a projection which is inserted into a guide groove disposed on the mounting bracket of the intercom master station, and the intercom master station has locking parts for fitting the terminal unit to the intercom master station so that engaged is an end face of a terminal outside chassis of the terminal unit which covers the terminals and the terminal board by being moved in an orthogonal direction to an inserting direction of the terminal unit.

Further, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, at the same time as the fitting operation, an electrical connection is carried out by insertion-mounting a connector which is disposed on the terminal board and a housing which is disposed on a main printed circuit board inside of the intercom master station.

Furthermore, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, on the mounting bracket, disposed is a storage space for storing on the downside of the terminal unit a lead wire for carrying out an electrical connection between the intercom master station and the terminal unit.

Moreover, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, on the terminal outside chassis, disposed is a lead wire guide for guiding and storing a lead wire which is gotten out from the intercom master station.

Further, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, it has locking parts for having said terminal outside chassis of said terminal unit fit by pushing said terminal in inside of the intercom master station.

Furthermore, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, the terminal unit is mounted on an opening part of a wall hanging attachment for attaching the intercom master station to a wall by locking parts which are disposed on the terminal unit, and the intercom master station has a storage space for storing the terminal unit which is mounted on the wall hanging attachment.

Moreover, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, an electrical connection is carried out by inserting the connector disposed on the terminal board which is disposed in the terminal unit into the housing disposed on the main printed circuit board which is disposed in the intercom master station.

Further, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, the terminal outside chassis is used as a part of an outer hull of the intercom master station.

Furthermore, in the intercom apparatus of the invention, the terminals of the terminal unit are mounted on a side surface of the intercom master station so that the station-to-station spanned wiring of the main line path is made to be an exposed wiring.

According to such intercom apparatus, a terminal part is unitized and the terminal unit can be made to be removed from the intercom main station so that even in case that the intercom master station has a defect and is removed from the intercom apparatus, there is no case that the entire apparatus is stopped. Further, since the intercom master station can be removed from the intercom apparatus, theft damage of the intercom main station during a period after the application until move-in can be prevented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention, together with further advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: [0022]
FIG. 1 is a view explaining a structure of an intercom apparatus; [0023]
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a back surface of an [0024] intercom master station 1 and a terminal unit 2 of an intercom apparatus according to the invention;
FIG. 3 is a view showing a CRT module mounting state in an internal structure of an [0025] intercom master station 1 of an intercom apparatus according to the invention;
FIGS. [0026] 4(a) and 4(b) are explanatory views of a terminal unit of the intercom apparatus of the invention showing a terminal board and a projection and showing a lead wire guide, respectively;
FIG. 5 is a view of an internal structure of an [0027] intercom master station 1 of an intercom apparatus of the invention showing a state in which a CRT module is removed from a state of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a explanatory view showing a connection of an intercom master station and a terminal unit in an intercom apparatus of the invention; [0028]
FIG. 7 is a view explaining another embodiment of a connection of an intercom master station and a terminal unit in an intercom apparatus of the invention; [0029]
FIG. 8 is a view explaining a wall mounting example in an intercom apparatus of the invention; [0030]
FIGS. [0031] 9(a) and 9(b) are a rear elevation view and a sectional side view of one example of an intercom master station and a terminal outside chassis in an intercom apparatus of the invention; and
FIG. 10 is a view explaining a lead wire and its storage in an intercom apparatus of the invention.[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be concretely described with referent to the drawings. [0033]
An intercom apparatus of the invention has, as shown in FIG. 1, one or a plurality of entrance substations [0034] 9 which are disposed at an entrance, a plurality of intercom master stations 1, 1, . . . which are disposed in residential rooms and called from the entrance substation 9 through a main line path to intercommunicate with the entrance substation 9 bilaterally and a image bus controller 7 for supplying electric power to a camera 91 of the entrance substation 9 and intercom master stations 1, 1, . . . and for amplifying image signals from the camera 91, and the plurality of the intercom master stations 1, 1, . . . are wire-connected by a station-to-station spanned wiring.
As shown in FIG. 2, this intercom apparatus is of a structure that a [0035] terminal unit 2 is mounted on the intercom master station 1, and as shown in FIGS. 2, 4(a) and 4(b), the terminal unit 2 comprises terminals 31 for forming a main line path and a terminal board 30 in which the terminals 31 are mounted and an electric connection of the main line path is carried out by the station-to-station spanned wiring, and as shown in FIG. 2, the intercom master station 1 has a mounting bracket 60 for mounting the terminal unit 2 detachably which is disposed on a back surface 13 of the intercom main station 1.
In case that the [0036] mounting bracket 60 which is disposed on the back surface 13 of the intercom master station 1 is disposed, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, in a space 51 at a back chassis 12 side which is formed on a back surface of a CRT module 50 as a monitor for displaying images which are taken by the camera 91 (see, FIG. 1) of the entrance substation 9, it is preferable since a vacant space can be utilized.
As shown in FIGS. [0037] 2, 4(a) and 4(b), the terminal unit 2 has a plurality of projections 22, 22, . . . which are inserted into a plurality of guide grooves 61, 61, . . . which are disposed on the mounting bracket 60 of the intercom master station 1, and the intercom master station 1 has locking parts 62 for fitting the terminal unit 2 to the intercom master station 1 so that engaged is an end face of a terminal outside chassis 21 of the terminal unit 2 which covers the terminals 31 and the terminal board 30 by being moved in an orthogonal direction to an inserting direction of the terminal unit 2.
Here, will be explained a case that the [0038] terminal unit 2 is fixed in a slide manner when it is mounted on the mounting bracket 60 of the intercom master station 1.
As shown in FIG. 2, by moving the [0039] terminal unit 2 in a slide direction over mounting it on the mounting bracket 60 of the intercom master station 1, the end face of the terminal outside chassis 21 of the terminal unit 2 fits to the locking parts 62 and the projection 22 (FIG. 4(a)) of the terminal unit 2 is fit in the guide groove 61 of the intercom master station 1 so that the terminal unit 2 is fixed.
Further, at the same time of the fitting of the [0040] terminal unit 2 and the intercom master station 1, as shown in FIG. 6, a connector 33 which is disposed on the terminal board 30 of the terminal unit 2 and a housing 41 which is disposed on a main board 40 of the intercom master station 1 are insertion-mounted so that an electrical connection is carried out.
In addition, as another system for carrying out the electrical connection, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, a [0041] lead wire 35 with necessary and sufficient length to be pulled out from the intercom master station 1 in case of put-on and take-off of the terminal unit 2 may be stored in a storage space 63 which is disposed on the mounting bracket 60 so that it is stored in the downside of the terminal unit 2, and further, the lead wire 35 for electrically connecting the intercom master station 1 and the terminal unit 2 may be passed through a lead wire guide 24 (see, FIG. 4(b)) and then, wire-connected to the terminal outside chassis 21 which is disposed on the terminal unit 2. In this case, after the wire-connection, the lead wire 35 can be stored underneath the terminal unit 2 and since it was passed through the lead wire guide 24, lead wires 35 are bundled so that storage processing becomes certain and easy.
Then, will be explained a case that the [0042] terminal unit 2 is fixed in a push-in manner when it is mounted on the mounting bracket 60 of the intercom master station 1.
As shown in FIG. 7, on an end portion for fixing the [0043] terminal unit 2 to the mounting bracket 60 of the intercom master station 1, disposed are locking parts 16 having inward directed claws 16 a, and by pushing the terminal unit 2 in an inside direction of the intercom master station 1, the locking parts 16 are bent so that the terminal outside chassis 21 is fit to the locking parts 16 and pull-out is blocked by the inward directed claws 16 a and the terminal unit 2 is surely fixed to the intercom master station 1.
Then, as another example, explained will be a structure for mounting the [0044] terminal unit 2 and the intercom master station 1 when the intercom master station 1 is mounted on a wall.
As shown in FIG. 8, a [0045] storage space 60 a for storing the terminal unit 2 in the intercom master station 1 is disposed, and on an end portion of the terminal unit 2, locking parts 23 comprising outward directed claws are disposed, and the terminal unit 2 is mounted at an opening part 81 of a wall hanging attachment 80, and the locking parts 23 of the terminal unit 2 are engaged with to be locked by the opening part 81 of the wall hanging attachment 80.
In addition, there is a case that a wire connection is temporarily carried out without mounting the [0046] intercom master station 1 in case of an application, and in this case, as a place to keep the terminal unit 2, it is mounted by use of locking parts 23 which are disposed on the terminal unit 2 and engaged with the opening part 81 of the wall hanging attachment 80. In this state, the terminal unit 2 can be kept in a state in which it is fixed to the wall. Thereafter, the intercom master station 1 is mounted for real and the terminal unit 2 can be easily mounted.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8, it becomes possible to carry out an electrical connection by insertion-mounting a [0047] connector housing 41 allocated on the main board 40 which is disposed in the intercom master station 1 and the connector 33 allocated on the terminal board 30 which is disposed in the terminal unit 2.
In addition, in the above embodiment, it was explained that the [0048] terminal unit 2 and the wall hanging attachment 80 were disposed separately, but may be formed integrally so that the similar advantages will be obtained.
Further, as shown in FIGS. [0049] 9(a) and 9(b), the terminal outside chassis 21 may be used as a part of a outer hull of the intercom master station 1. In this case, the station-to-station spanned wiring of the main line path may be made to be an exposed wiring by mounting the terminals 31 of the terminal unit 2 on a side surface of the intercom master station 1.
As apparent from the foregoing explanation, according to an intercom apparatus of the invention, by unitizing a terminal portion, a terminal unit can be removed from an intercom master station so that an entire apparatus never stops even when the intercom master station has a defect and is removed from the apparatus. Further, during a period after an application until move-in, the intercom master station can be removed so that a theft damage of the intercom master station after the application can be prevented. [0050]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An intercom apparatus having one or a plurality of entrance substations which are disposed at an entrance and a plurality of intercom master stations which are disposed in residential rooms and called from said entrance substation through a main line path to intercommunicate with said entrance substation bilaterally, wherein said intercom apparatus has a terminal unit which comprises terminals for wiring between the plurality of intercom master stations by a station-to-station spanned wiring to form said main line path and a terminal board for mounting said terminals and carrying out an electrical connection of said main line path by said station-to-station spanned wiring, and said intercom master station has a mounting bracket for detachably mounting said terminal unit.

2. The intercom apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mounting bracket is disposed at a backside of said intercom master station.

3. The intercom apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said mounting bracket is disposed in a space which is formed at a backside of a CRT module as a monitor which displays a picture taken by a camera of said entrance substation.

4. The intercom apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said terminal unit has a projection which is inserted into a guide groove disposed on the mounting bracket of said intercom master station, and said intercom master station has locking parts for fitting said terminal unit to the intercom master station so that engaged is an end face of a terminal outside chassis of said terminal unit which covers said terminals and said terminal board by being moved in an orthogonal direction to an inserting direction of said terminal unit.

5. The intercom apparatus according to claim 4, wherein at the same time as said fitting operation, an electrical connection is carried out by insertion-mounting a connector which is disposed on said terminal board and a housing which is disposed on a main printed circuit board inside of said intercom master station.

6. The intercom apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, on said mounting bracket, disposed is a storage space for storing on the downside of said terminal unit a lead wire for carrying out an electrical connection between said intercom master station and said terminal unit.

7. The intercom apparatus according to claim 6, wherein, on said terminal outside chassis, disposed is a lead wire guide for guiding and storing a lead wire which is gotten out from said intercom master station.

8. The intercom apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or claims 5 to 7, comprising locking parts for having said terminal outside chassis of said terminal unit fit by pushing said terminal unit in inside of said intercom master station.

9. The intercom apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said terminal unit is mounted on a opening part of a wall hanging attachment for attaching said intercom master station to a wall by locking parts which are disposed on said terminal unit, and said intercom master station has a storage space for storing said terminal unit which is mounted on said wall hanging attachment.

10. The intercom apparatus according to claim 9, wherein an electrical connection is carried out by inserting the connector disposed on said terminal board which is disposed in said terminal unit into the housing disposed on the main board which is disposed in said intercom master station.

11. The intercom apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 10, wherein said terminal outside chassis is used as a part of an outer hull of said intercom master station.

12. The intercom apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said terminals of said terminal unit are mounted on a side surface of said intercom master station so that the station-to-station spanned wiring of said main line path is made to be an exposed wiring.